As seen on Innocenceproject.org:

Innocence Project praises the House of Representatives’ leadership and urges the Senate to enact this legislation as soon as possible

(Washington, D.C.: Wednesday, July 28, 2010) – Late yesterday, the House of Representatives passed critical bipartisan legislation, “The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010” (H.R. 5143), to improve the fairness and reliability of the nation’s criminal justice system.  Lead cosponsors of the bill include Representatives William Delahunt (D-MA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Tom Rooney (R-FL), and Bobby Scott (D-VA).  This historic legislation, originally championed in the Senate by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), would create a national commission to examine and reshape the criminal justice system.

Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, a national organization affiliated with Cardozo School of Law that uses DNA testing to exonerate innocent prisoners and pursues reforms to prevent wrongful convictions, praises House leaders for championing this badly needed legislation and urges immediate Senate action.

“The Innocence Project congratulates the House of Representatives today for passing this historic and crucial legislation.  Thanks to the leadership of bipartisan cosponsors, including Representatives Delahunt, Issa, Fudge, Rooney and Scott, this critical commission would improve the underlying fairness and reliability of the criminal justice system.  We urge the Senate to pass this legislation quickly so that comprehensive review and reform of the system can begin in earnest.”

Russell Gray spent three years in prison for a murder he did not commit before the real perpetrator admitted guilt and Gray was pardoned by the Governor of Virginia.

In July 1986, Charles Gray and another man went to the Richmond home of another man whom they had been recently quarreling with.  As the tension between the groups of men heightened, Gray’s friend fired shots at the third man’s house, hitting his stepfather in the neck.  Eight days later, the stepfather passed away due to his wounds.

Both the stepson and his mother told police that Charles Gray’s brother Russell was the shooter.  The stepson picked out Russell Gray’s mug shot in a photo book as the trigger man, and the widow, who did not see the shots fired, identified Gray as someone who was at the crime scene just before and shortly after her husband was killed.  Witness misidentification is the lead cause of wrongful convictions.  The stepson also said that the shooter was wearing shorts. 

In Gray’s one day trial, his attorney Carey Bowen attempted to prove that he was not there.  Gray showed a disfiguring scar on his leg that kept him from ever wearing shorts. A number of people in the neighborhood testified that they had never seen him wear shorts. Bowen also called a number of alibi witnesses who placed Gray at another place at the time of the shooting.  Although the jury expressed skepticism over the stepson’s testimony, the judge denied their request to review the transcript of his testimony.  Gray was eventually convicted and sentenced to 52 years.

Despite the conviction, Bowen continued his investigation, interviewing more potential witnesses.  All of his investigation led pointed to a third man, Michael Harvey, who was an alibi witness in Gray’s defense at trial.  Harvey eventually confessed to a Richmond detective that he was the shooter and that Gray was not involved.  Bowen also found a new witness who testified seeing Harvey at the scene and that he was wearing the same shorts described by the stepson.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence of his innocence, Gray’s exoneration was held up by legal red tape.  Because Harvey was a defense witness, his testimony could not be held against the prosecution.  Gray was left with no judicial options.  With the help of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, then-Governor L. Douglas Wilder issued a pardon in April 1990.

Harvey eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and served eight years in prison.

A day after DNA evidence led to Donald Gates being released from prison, MAIP Exeuctive Director Shawn Armbrust spoke to Fox 5 News in Washington D.C. about the case, the factors that led to Gates' wrongful conviction and the work that MAIP does.

Click here to watch the video.

Maryland lawmakers and Governor O'Malley's adminstration have come to an agreement on the wording of a DNA collection law.

The original language, supported by Governor O'Malley, allowed police to take DNA samples from people arrested for violent crimes or burgalary.  Members of Maryland's legislature disagreed with the regulation, and contended that DNA should only be collected from those who had been formally charged with a crime.  The two sides were able to reconcile their differences during a legislative session. (more…)

The Baltimore Sun published an article concerning a Baltimore judge who has ordered the city police to search for DNA evidence from a 1975 rape case or face a fine.

In January, Circuit Judge Wanda K. Heard ordered the Baltimore police department to search storage facilities for any DNA evidence remaining from John Williams Simms' 1977 trial. Judge Heard gave the prosecutor and police 90 days to submit a written report detailing their efforts. To date, no report has been filed. (more…)

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project recently published its 2007 annual newsletter.  The newsletter provides updates on our most significant activities of the past year.  To read it, click here.

On October 17, 2007, MAIP's Executive Director made a presentation to Virginia's Forensic Science Board, asking the Board to endorse a change to Virginia's post-conviction DNA testing statute that would allow prisoners to obtain types of DNA testing not performed by the state lab.  Specifically, MAIP urges the adoption of Y-STR testing, a form of DNA testing that can get results with smaller amounts of genetic material, and with material that was once believed to be too degraded even to test.  It is also useful for obtaining results where a small amount of male DNA might otherwise be masked by a large amount of female DNA in a sample.  The change would have an enormous impact on many of MAIP's prospective clients.  It is particularly crucial now, as Virginia undergoes the DNA re-testing program ordered by Governor Warner. 

Ms. Armbrust's presentation was covered by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Free Lance-Star.  To read their articles, click here and here.   To read about Virginia's re-testing program, click here. 

Two major publications today featured stories on innocence issues. 

The New York Times ran a first-page article about the ways in which states are re-thinking their criminal justice procedures based on lessons learned from the nation's first 200 DNA exonerations.  The article highlights Maryland's recent laws on crime lab oversight and eyewitness identification procedures.  The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project's Executive Director, Shawn Armbrust, testified before the Maryland legislature on both of these bills.  To read the New York Times article, click here. 

The Washington Post today ran an editorial discussing the problem of false confessions.  The author, Shankar Vedantam, described a fascinating study in which non-criminal individuals were led, through mere suggestion, to admit to acts that they had not performed.  The article notes that approximately 25 percent of DNA exonerations have involved false confessions.  To read the Washington Post editorial, click here. 

The Governor of North Carolina recently signed into law three bills that aim to prevent wrongful convictions.  The laws implement procedures that MAIP has long advocated, including a requirement that in-person lineups and photo arrays be conducted by a neutral administrator who does not know which participant is the suspect.  The bills also require the recording of custodial interrogations in homicide cases and the preservation of evidentiary material that could contain DNA.  You can access these new laws by clicking on the links below.   

HB 1625 (eyewitness ID): *Signed 8/23/07
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1625v5.pdf

HB 1626 (recording of interrogations): *Signed 8/23/07
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1626v5.pdf

HB 1500 (DNA access/preservation of evidence): *Signed 8/31/07

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1500v5.pdf

On Wednesday, Maryland exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth testified before the Maryland legislature in favor of the abolition of the death penalty in Maryland.  Mr. Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death for a rape and murder that he did not commit.  He spent nearly nine years on Maryland's death row before a DNA test proved that he could not have been the killer.  The DNA test also implicated the true killer, who subsequently plead guilty.  Mr. Bloodsworth, who serves on our Honorary Board, now speaks extensively on innocence issues and the death penalty.  To learn more about his wrongful conviction and how it happened, please see the "Case Profiles" section of our website.  To read Marc Fisher's Washington Post column on Mr. Bloodsworth and his testimony, click here.